Odd gain issues with multiple pedals

[Yalesmith]

Hello. I built a Cetus preamp (Kraken) and it worked fine, but I was suprised by the fact that it did not have a lot of gain/distortion. Later on I mistakenly ordered another board, so I built it with the intentions of giving it to my brother. They both sound exactly the same….. later, I heard a version of the Kraken and was like wow, so much gain, nothing like what I built. I started thinking that the Brown Betty I built worked fine, sounded good but also did not have as much gain as I expected…. Then the blueshoe Gai Pan pedal acted weird with the sweep knob but worked fine nonetheless. It occurred to me they all had one thing in common….. TL072. Is there a chance I got a bunch of crappy ic’s? Would tl072 effect the gain on these pedals?

When I say low gain I mean, way Less than the acrylic overdrive (plexi drive) but more than say a tube screamer. I build several Angry day pedals and those have so much more gain that it’s not even comparable.. And ideas? All thoughts would be appreciated!!

Thanks

 

[jwin615]

Possible on the 072s. Where did you source them?
But, what kind of guitar are you playing? Lower output pickups can sound less gainy.
Maybe try a buffer up front that can provide a bit of boost. Or even just a mid gain OD dialed back for testing purposes. Amps also play a part. A solid state won't sound/react like a good tube amp at "edge of breakup/slightly dirty" being pushed by a higher gain pedal. No judging on the SS amp(tgp), but they're not going to react the same.

 

[jesuscrisp]

Unless your TL072s are some very weird kind of fake, they shouldn't be the issue. You either have something weird going on with your setup, or some kind of consistent build/component related issues.

Could you by any chance post pictures of the populated PCBs of all thr pedals you mentioned?

 

[Yalesmith]

First, I take back what I said about the Brown Betty…. Def enough gain, I played around with the internal trim pot. As far as guitars are concerned, my strat has rails and the Les Paul has pretty high gain pickups. I am playing through a 60’s fender showman amp and a dual Rectifier oversized 4x12.

I wonder if it could be zeneers?

See pics attached.

 

[Yalesmith]

I think this may be a good learning expierence for me here.

So I looked up voltages and it appears for both ic1 & 2 pin 7 should be zero butt I am getting .5 volts. And for pins 8 i should be getting 7.25 but I am getting roughly .50 volts less. Would this make a difference in sound? And should I be concerned?

Thanks